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I started wearing red lipstick when I dyed my hair black last year and pink lipstick looked too slutty on me.

See? Trashy vs. Classy! (NB: if trashy is you’re thing, more power to you! That’s a look in itself.)

A red lip must be worn with a purpose. You’re communicating to the world that you are responsible enough to care and maintaint this perfect, red pout and are therefore confident, classy, put together and a paragon of virture. Yes, that is the power of a red lip. This is because the red lip is as high maintenence as fuck. You can’t just slap it on sans mirror at 7pm and expect it to look the same or okaish at midnight. No, No, No. Like everything else French, the red lip must be cultivated with care. The application must be precise and the re-application timely. Red is so pigmented the colour will never disappear, but it will look patchy and faded. You must have the discipline to stay away from most food and drink (maybz that’s why the French are so skinny?).

My all-time favourite red lipstick is MAC’s Ruby Woo . It’s a classic shade that looks good with EVERYONE and has amazing staying power. It’s completely matte. I’ve tried drugstore one’s from Revlon and they slide off my lip way faster. I always use it with with MAC Cherry lipliner. Lipliner is a must for a red lip or else it will bleed all over your face and people will be concerned you’re bleeding from your mouth.

Where its appropriate to wear a red lip:

Strolling down the streets of Paris

In a bio-pic of a 1940s film star

A black-tie event/grown-ass party

When you’re not wearing any makeup

When you’re DELIBERATELY wearing a shit-ton of eye makeup

After a breakup. A great alternative to bangs!

Where it is inappropriate to wear a red lip:

A date. A red lip can be a man-repeller. They just don’t get it! Also, if you end up making out, you don’t want to get it all over his collar and face now, do you?

When trying to seduce a man. In that case, a pale pink glossy lip will always win.

8 a.m class

A job interview, uness you’re a makeup artist or a clown.

When you’re binge eating. Pointless.

Out at ‘da club. All that drinking and screaming will make it shmear all over your face.

This scares me. I got two cystic bumps on my right cheek, which is exactly where I used to get my worst acne. I also got a few small pimples on my chin area that went away pretty fast.

So because I am terrified of my acne coming back I have started using Aczone on my right jaw area every night. Aczone is pretty gentle and non-irritating and I decided to just use that product exclusively so I can judge if it works. if it doesn’t work I will go back to a harsher Tactuo/Epuido or Retin-A topical or something. I also use Benzoyl Peroxide on those small pimples as a spot treatment. This really bothers me because half the reason I was on Accutane was so I could stop using topicals and trying to figure out which topicals worked!

Besides that small area, my skin is great! All my blackheads, white heads, and random shit that I didn’t even care about because I was too focused on my cystic cheek acne, are heavily reduced.

I had a facial the other day*****, because apparently my acne is stubborn bitch and after that initial break out I wanted to just clean out my pores, and let me tell you, the facialist extracted nothing close to what she usually did before Accutane. So many less blackheads, gunk etc came out. It was so quick!

She actually said-sorry this is gross- that she purged my skin of a lot of oil. Like she would squeeze a pore and clear oil would come out? Wtf?

I actually don’t even think I have super oily skin, but she says my skin is both “oily and dehydrated”. Literally no clue what that means. Do I need more moisture or less? No one has been able to answer that coherently. I have stopped using Emu Oil and other heavy moisturizers since I went off Accutane, since my skin isn’t that dry anymore.

All the side-effects from the Accutane are gone, including dry lips, and I am going to go for my first wax tomorrow, I’ll let you know if it rips my skin off ;). Hope not!

I’m going to see if I breakout any further, and if so, I might go back on Accutane. Note that I had a very low dosage (40 mg/day) and length of time I was on it (only 3 months), so your experience might be different.

***** Sidenote: I highly recommend facials if you have acne because extracting blemishes yourself is a terrible idea, and they just get stuff out you cant even really see.However, the only facials I like are Dermalogica ones. They are the only ones that don’t make break out. All other facials, even by fancy and well-known facialists make me red and bumpy and I end up purging a few days later. I don’t recommend those at all. (For any Torontonians, I go to The 10 Spot and get either the full facial or the quickie facial, which is a great way to get extractions for a cheaper price, $45.)

This small nail place downtown is both the best and the cheapest place to get shellac or nail art done. It’s my #1 downtown gem. It is..wait for it…

$15 flat to get a Shellac manicure.

Not polish change. Full manicure, including shellac removal. Compare that to the average price of $35.

Not only that, but every nail technician there is experienced and professional. They don’t do waxing, facials or massages. They are a nail place; it’s their speciality and they are damn good at it. (They recently started offering pedicures too.) They have one of the biggest ranges of shellac colours I’ve ever seen and a bunch of nail art supplies. I’ve never gotten nail art but I have seen them doing other people and it always looks good. A lot of time the staff are away at nail art shows, so they seem really dedicated to the craft.

Entertainment wise, they have a ton of up-to-date magazines and usually a reality TV show playing. All the technicians also speak English, so you can easily converse with them.

The only downside is their hours. It can be difficult to get an appt, as I believe they only do shellac Thursdays-Sat and there is only 1 or 2 technicians working at once. On the plus side however, the owner, Nina, takes appts by text! So convenient especially if you are covertly trying to make an appt. while at work.

This stuff really does last long. Unfortunately it still transfers onto my coffee cup. The shade selection is typically drugstore-poor. This bright colour works well for work, where I wear minimal makeup. It has an interesting texture, wet at first then it almost stretches to the contours of your lip. Unlike a lot of long-lasting lipsticks this is not drying at all.